Daniel Nestor and Marcelo Melo are teaming up this week in Sydney. On Monday, they were part of history as the pair defeated Jeremy Chardy and Leander Paes 6-4, 6-4. The win gave Nestor his 1,000th career doubles win.
Nestor Makes History in Sydney
The 43-year-old Canadian reached the career milestone at the Apia International Sydney where he is seeded third alongside Marcelo Melo. Melo-Nestor got their campaign in Sydney off to a winning start by edging Jeremy Chardy and Leander Paes in straight sets. The third seeds fought off eight break points in the match and converted one in each set near the tail end of each to earn Nestor his 1,000th career doubles win. Nestor said in an interview posted on the ATP website after the match that having his family present was extra special, "It's really special making it to 1,000 especially having my family here with me. They made the long trip to Australia kind of for this reason. A special moment like this, it's really important to share it with others, the people that have been with me through thick and thin and through most of the victories."
Nestor was congratulated on Twitter after the big win by one of his many former doubles partners, Julian Knowle.
Women's Doubles Play Continues in Sydney
Play continued in Sydney in the women's doubles draw with the third and fourth seeded teams in action on Monday. French third seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic beat out a pesky effort from Su-Wei Hseih and Oksana Kalishnikova. The third seeds edged Hseih-Kalishnikova 6-3, 6-7 (3), 10-6. Fourth seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos also survived a fierce tussle in the opening round. Srebotnik-Babos outlasted Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska 7-5, 6-7 (0), 13-11. The third doubles match of the day saw Yaroslava Shvedova and Raluca Olaru whip Andreja Klepac and Lara Arruabarrena 6-3, 6-3. They will face Srebotnik-Babos in the quarterfinals.
Top Seeds Ousted in Auckland
The top seeds in Auckland are one and done at the ASB Classic. Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah took on locals Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell. Sitak and Daniell struck early with a break in the second game of the opening set as they rolled to a quick 6-2 set win. In the second, it was a trade of service holds to a deciding tiebreak. Cabal-Farah would see a set point at 6-5 in the breaker, but lose three straight points as the New Zealand pair pulled off the upset. Elsewhere, American John Isner teamed up with Lukas Rosol to edge Max Mirnyi and Treat Huey in a super tiebreak in the opening round. Isner-Rosol won 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. Isner-Rosol were their strongest in the super breaker as they won all eight of their service points.
Seeded Pair Wins in Hobart
In the only doubles match of the day at the Hobart International, fourth seeds Darija Jurak and Nicole Melichar got off to a winning start. They won their opener over Australian duo Maddison Inglis and Jessica Moore. Jurak-Melichar were down 5-3 after being broken for the second time in the opening set. They managed to break Inglis-Moore twice down the stretch, but could not close out the set at 6-5 as it moved to a tiebreak. After starting 2-2 in the breaker, the fourth seeds would win five of the next six points to close out the set 7-6 (3). The second set saw Jurak-Melichar fall behind 2-0, before they would reel off five straight games and ultimately take the set 6-3.
Check out VAVEL every day for the latest doubles results from both the ATP and WTA tours in The Daily Doubles.